EFL Carabao Cup Final: Guardiola's Man City Lands 5th Title In 10 Years - Here Is How They Defeated Arsenal At Wembley

Arsenal endured yet another heartbreak in their quest to win this season's first trophy after Pep Guardiola's Manchester City defeated the Premier League leaders by 2-0 in the EFL Carabao Cup 2025-26 final in front of a jampacked Wembley Stadium.

It was both the side's first shot at silverware in the on-going season, which is heading into its business end.

While there is still a lot to play for in the Premier League and the FA Cup, Manchester City has certainly landed the first blow on Arsenal by denying them the chance to complete a historic domestic treble and also ruling out possibilities of the Gunners winning a Quadruple of trophies.

Respite For Man City After Real Madrid Thrashing

For Pep Guardiola and his men, this trophy holds a lot of significance, especially after the kind of outings they had in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Real Madrid.

The Cityzens lost 5-1 on aggregate (3-0 in Madrid & 2-1 in Manchester) to get knocked out of Europe for the 3rd season in a row against the same opponents.

Manchester City were in desperate need of gaining some momentum and the Carabao Cup final was the perfect avenue for them to do so. Academy product Nico O'Reilly scored twice with his head and helped the Blues claim their 5th EFL title under the Pep era and first since the 2020-21 season.

Pep Guardiola Bags 5th Carabao Cup title; City One Behind Liverpool

Pep Guardiola also became the first manager to bag 5 league cup trophies, previously winning the competition 4 times in a row from 2018 to 2021. The Spaniard's first major silverware with City was also this very competition nearly 6 years ago.

Man City (9th title) are now just another Carabao Cup away from becoming the joint most successful team in the competition with Liverpool having 10 of those titles.

But how did a struggling City side orchestrate this victory against an in-form and defensively stable Arsenal side? Let's find out.

How Manchester City Orchestrated This Victory?

Arsenal's best chance of scoring a goal arrived very early on in the game but they could not find a way past City's James Trafford between the post. The Englishman, who arrived from Burnley last summer, made a triple save to deny the Gunners from breaking the deadlock.

Arsenal then gradually retreated into their trademark ultra-defensive mode that proved to be the major reason behind their loss. There was no real attacking threat from the North Londoners, who also kept only 37% of possession throughout the match.

In the 2nd half, Mikel Arteta’s side appeared content to sit deep and absorb pressure, which backfired them completely. The Gunners relinquished control of the midfield, leaving striker Viktor Gyokeres isolated.

In contrast, Manchester City were at their very best, perhaps playing their best game of Football this season. They relentlessly shifted attacking gears that Arsenal simply could not match.

The breakthrough came on the hour mark when academy graduate Nico O'Reilly capitalized on a massive error from Kepa Arrizabalaga to head home.

Just 4 minutes later, O'Reilly doubled City's lead with another clinical header following a precise cross from right back Matheus Nunes.

City’s dominance in the final 45 minutes turned a tense stalemate into a comprehensive win. Notably, these two teams are fighting each other in the race for the English Premier League title.

Mikel Arteta's side hold a firm grip at the summit of the table, leading Manchester City by 9 points with the latter club having a game in hand.

The English rivals will meet again in a few weeks' time on matchday 33 of the EPL on Sunday, April 19 at the Etihad Stadium.